So, can I introduce myself? I’m the Reverend Dougie Burnett, a minister with the United Reformed Church in Bristol. Next April with my two daughters, Isabella and Lucy, I shall be taking on the London to Paris bike ride for the charity PiggyBankKids.  This is in the way of seeking monies for our fundraising (we have pledged to raise £4500 between the three of us), but also to espouse the work of a very worthwhile charity.

If you’re a regular reader of DorkyMum you might have come across PiggyBankKids already. Remember the loose coins collection of a couple of months ago? OK, so we are talking the same charity. PiggyBankKids is all about changing children’s lives. Founded in 2002 by Sarah Brown it seeks to inspire professionals to continue their world-changing work in saving and transforming lives. This takes different shapes and forms in this country and around the world. First up is the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory, based at the prestigious Queen’s Medical Research Institute in Edinburgh and is uniquely focused on both pregnancy and neonatal research. Next there are the partnership projects. From mentoring programmes to sports provision, children’s cancer care to school-based projects it is all there, with a particular focus on mentoring. Finally there is education for all. PiggyBankKids is expanding, taking their commitment to the most vulnerable children outside of the UK and into a global context. We have chosen to focus on the second of the Millenium Development Goals, set in 2000, in which the global community committed to universary primary education by 2015. Continue reading →